Rain
by supersurfer3329
Summary: After they're rescued, Kate and Jack split up. About two years later, Kate comes to LA to find Jack with a secret she's been keeping all those years. Read. Review.
1. Chapter 1

Kate hated flying. Especially after the crash. She could never seem to bring herself to board a plane and had taken to driving everywhere she went. But now, with her squirming two-year old daughter in the seat next to her, she was even more on edge.

"Relax, Kate. It'll be fine," Charlie said trying to calm her down as best he could. Although Kate was glad Claire had insisted on Charlie coming with her, Kate was still as nervous as ever about what she was about to do.

_Flashback_

"_Ava, please sleep, sweetie. You're going to miss your nap," Kate groaned leaning back against the couch. Ava continued to cry from the crib in her room and ask for Kate to hold her. As much as she wanted to take her little girl in her arms, Kate knew that if she went into Ava's room, she wouldn't be coming back out for a while and frankly, she was reaching her breaking point. After 10 minutes more of listening to Ava cry incessantly, Kate had gone into her room just as the doorbell rang. She looked at Ava and said laughing tiredly, "Come on, sweetie. Let's see who it is."_

_She opened the door and was surprised to see Claire standing on the other side._

"_Claire!" she said over Ava's cries. _

"_Hi, Kate, hi Ava darling," she said kissing Ava's cheek, then looking at the clock in Kate's kitchen said, "Isn't this her nap time?"_

"_I wish," Kate said laughing. "Apparently this little girl doesn't need sleep. We got a collective 4 hours last night."_

"_Must be genetic- I think I remember you telling me you did the same thing when you were her age," Claire commented following Kate into the kitchen._

"_Well, I am sorry my parents had to go through that," Kate apologized. "I just don't know what's wrong with her. How do you get Aaron to go to sleep?" she asked her friend._

"_If he's not going down for me, I get Charlie to do it," Claire said pointedly, looking Kate in the eyes._

"_Claire, don't start this again," Kate pleaded. "I'm not telling him. I can't tell him- he said he didn't want children and I had to go and get pregnant! And besides, it would be so awkward-"_

"_Stop making excuses for yourself!" Claire said more harshly than she meant to. "If I were Jack, I would want to know I had a child. It isn't fair to him, Kate. You're only thinking of yourself."_

"_So what do I do?" Kate asked, growing tired of this seemingly endless conversation that seemed to pick up right where it left off every time Claire or Charlie visited. "Fly down to LA, walk into his hospital and say, 'Hi, remember me? I got pregnant and had your child. Is that okay with you?'" Kate retorted equally harsher than she had meant to._

"_I don't care how you do it, just-" Claire stopped mid-sentence and looked down at Ava who had fallen asleep on Kate's shoulder._

"_What?" Kate asked oblivious to her daughter. "Oh," she said following Claire's gaze to her shoulder. "Thank God. I thought she was never gonna do it."_

"_Look, Kate," Claire said gently resting her hand on Kate's free shoulder. "I just think you owe it to Jack and Ava to tell him. He still loves you, you know," she added in her warm Australian voice, smiling inwardly as Kate's head shot up. _

"_I just don't know- I mean, what if he's engaged, or has a girlfriend?"_

"_He's single, Kate," Claire confirmed. "He's still in love with you. You kinda broke his heart when you left without even saying goodbye." Kate was silent, so Claire continued. "Charlie and I were going to fly out to see him this weekend, but Aaron's sick so I can't go. Take my ticket, and go see Jack and tell him the truth."_

"_I-"_

"_No excuses, Kate. Go with Charlie. He'll take care of you and Ava. Go and see Jack._

_End Flashback_

Kate shifter uncomfortably in her seat and for perhaps the fiftieth time Charlie put his hand over hers to calm her nerves. She loved him, and he was one of her best friends, but it wasn't working.

"Goin to see Pooh-bear, Mamma?" Ava asked sweetly looking at her mother.

"No sweetie, we're going to Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles?"

"Yeah, we're going to see da-" Kate stopped herself. How the hell was she going to introduce her daughter to Jack. "We're going to see Mamma's friend," she finally decided on.

"Mamma's fend?"

"Yeah, baby. Just a friend…" Kate trailed off hugging Ava close to her body as the captain announced their descent into Los Angeles.

"We here now, Mamma?" Ava asked as they followed Charlie through the airport to the baggage terminal.

"Ava girl, why don't you let uncle Charlie carry you until we get a taxi to go to Mummy's friend's house, okay?" Charlie suggested, saving Kate from answering the almost two-year-old's seemingly endless string of questions. They got their luggage and Ava's car seat and quickly climbed into one of the many waiting taxis outside the terminal.

"So," Charlie said excitedly once they were on the freeway. "Were to, then? Jack's house or his hospital?

"Well," Kate began shifting nervously. "I guess I thought maybe after a few days-"

"No," Charlie said firmly. "Claire warned me about this, and I'm not letting you worm your way out of this. It's now or now, Kate. You've got to do it. I know that if I were him, I'd want to know I had a kid."

"You sound like Claire," Kate muttered.

"Where do you think she gets it from?" Charlie asked, grinning cheekily. "Come on, Kate. You can do it. Let's go to the hotel, get checked in and all, and then drop by the hospital so you can do this."

Kate nodded because she had no other choice but to go along with Charlie's plan, but inside she felt like she was dying. How on earth was she going to do this?


	2. Chapter 2

Two hours later, Kate found herself standing at the reception desk of St. Sebastian's hospital in downtown Los Angeles with Ava on resting against her. 'Just do it, Kate,' she thought to herself. 'Get it over with. Just tell him.'

"Can I help you, dear?" the receptionist asked, focusing her attention on Kate and Ava.

"Yes," Kate said stepping forward. "I'm her to see Dr. Shephard. Jack Shephard."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I'm- I'm a friend. It's important," Kate said wondering how she should put it.

"Can I have your name?" Kate told her, and the receptionist continued. "Go to ICU- it's on the second floor- and wait in the reception area. I'll make sure he knows you're here," the lady said smiling at Ava. Kate whispered her thanks and made her way to the ICU.

"I'm here to see-" Kate began once she was at the ICU reception area, but the nurse interrupted her. "Jack Shephard?" Kate nodded weakly. "He's in the middle of something right now, but he'll be out here shortly."

"Mamma, look!" Ava shrieked pointing to a large fish tank jutting out from the wall next to them.

"Yeah, babe, I see the fish," Kate said to Ava, then turned her attention back to the receptionist. "Thank you for your help," she said before walking over to the fish tank and looking through the other side at her daughter who giggled. They continued playing behind the fish tank, looking through the aquarium at the people passing through the corridor for the next 15 minutes until Kate saw him. He was jogging down the hall in his blue scrubs and white doctors' coat towards a group of nurses wheeling a stretcher down the corridor at full speed. Kate's heart sped up and she suddenly wished she hadn't come at all. Once he had secured the injured person on the stretcher, he rushed back to the reception desk. Kate crouched next to Ava, who was oblivious to her mother's obvious discomfort, looking through the fish tank at the man she once knew to be so strong. 'He looks broken,' Kate thought to herself. 'I bet he gets less than 4 hours of sleep a night.' She froze as the receptionist pointed towards her and Ava. He looked over and she stood up slowly with Ava in her arms.

"Kate?" he said hoarsely, hardly able to believe his eyes.

"Hi, Jack," she said quietly, watching his gaze travel to the tiny person in her arms.

"Fend?" Ava asked pointing to Jack. Kate nodded, whispered something in her ear, and Ava lay her head down on her mother's shoulder. When Jack just stared at her, she cleared her throat. "Is there somewhere we can go, somewhere where we can talk?" she asked , her voice still trembling but louder than the first time she had spoken.

"Uh, yeah… yeah, just, uh… just follow me we can, uh, go to my office," Jack said, his eyes never leaving Ava who had fallen asleep on Kate's shoulder, tired from their long day of flying. Kate nodded and followed Jack through a maze of hallways and corridors until they arrived at a door labeled "Dr. Jack Shephard, MD." Kate smiled beside herself at how professional it sounded. Jack let her in, closed the door behind them, then turned to face her.

"Why-" he started, then cleared his throat. "What are you-" But Kate interrupted him.

Jack, I came here to tell you… I… there's no easy way to say it, but here we go," she said and looked up into Jack's eyes. "When I left, Jack," she noticed him clench his jaw at the memory. "When I left, I was pregnant."

Jack looked down at Ava on her shoulder. "Her name is Ava," Kate said. "With an "A." I don't know why I spelled it with an "A" in the hospital, but …" Kate trailed off, realizing that she was babbling. "Look, Jack, I didn't… I don't expect you to… I understand if you don't want anything to do with us, or me. I didn't come here to ask any help, because I can do it on my own. I've been doing it on my own. I don't want any money, I just came here to tell you, because I thought that you have the right to know, even though I know it's too late…" Kate finished shakily.

Jack was silent for a minute, just staring at his daughter. 'Oh, god, he doesn't want anything to do with me,' Kate thought. "Jack?" she asked tentatively. "Please say something, Jack."

He tore his eyes away from the sleeping angel in her arms and looked into her eyes. "Why did you run?" he finally asked in a voice so vulnerable Kate's heart broke for him.

"I didn't want to hurt you… or get hurt. It all happened so fast, I just… I was scared- terrified. I've never been good at letting people in, and I knew if we had the baby, I'd have to let you in. I left because I was going to get rid of it, but when I got to the clinic, I just- I-" Tears were running down her cheeks as she held Ava closer to her chest. "I couldn't do it, so I ran," she finished in a whisper. Before Jack could respond, Ava woke up and looked around in confusion.

"Where's Pooh-bear, Mamma?" she asked drowsily.

Kate chuckled through her tears. "We're not here to see Pooh bear, babe. Remember?" Ava shook her head, and upon noticing Jack, hid her face in her mother's curls. Kate laughed again. "Can you say 'hi' Ava?" she asked the little girl. Ava shook her head, and Kate whispered something in her ear, and her head shot up. She turned around in Kate's arms and smiled at Jack.

"Hi," she said shyly.

Jack smiled, staring at this miniature Kate smiling at him. She had Kate's eyes, hair, freckles and smile, but he could already see she had his mouth, and as Kate pointed out, his personality. Kate's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Jack? You wanna hold her?" Kate was asking. Jack looked a bit apprehensive at first, but seeing Ava's smile, he nodded weakly and Ava reached out her arms to him. Once she was in his arms, she curled up against his chest and closed her eyes.


End file.
